just got my reefbreeders 120 watt value fixture today. fixture is going to be 3" from the water surface. i have a mushroom leather,two finger and going to add a devils hand. trying to figure how much i should turn the lights up to in intensity. the distance from the lamp to the corals would be 9". does anyone have this type of setup?

What size tank? Can you move the light further from the water? most LEd systems ar run between 10-12 inches above the water.

I can tell you that you will want to start out low. Like 20% and go up like 5% a week till you get it where you want.

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it is a 66 gallon corner. its 23" from the top of the sand to the surface of the water. i can mount it on top of the wooden canopy that would put it 11" from the surface of the water. at what intensity should i eventually run it at ?

Definitely no.. You'll bleach everything. Especially that low. Start at 15 to 20 percent. Go up about five percent a week. With just softies you most likely won't go above 50%

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I agree with the starting point here. Softies can be acclimated, for the most part, to very high lighting so you can stop where you feel necessary but I wouldn't ramp up too fast. My xenia is starting to make a comeback under my LED's and I'm now running them at about 80 on blues and 70 on the whites. My fixture is about 18 inches above the waterline though but the xenia is dead center in my tank. (gosh I wish they would melt already)

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